Dual Battery Mod

[dirtybum]

Cant wait to hear if this works out. How much weight is that??

I am looking for a plug and play solution that has the voltage balanced thing with no holes drilled into the body or vents of extra wires. I had a look at FPVCustoms and I see wires coming out of the body. Im not looking to do that so if Tom Parkers avoids this then its an option. On shorter flights when I dont need the extra batteries I would like to put in a normal battery and go without wires dangling.
Is that even possible? Connecting the two extra batteries to the main DJI battery only?

I don't have a current weight because I just received it in the mail this morning, but I will start a whole post on the subject with all the specs and details as well as the flight time results and distances. I can tell you that me and some of the other dual battery users are using batteries as heavy or more heavy than this one and experiencing great flight times. The advantage to this one is that it's completely plug-and-play ,the power mod is done to the main battery itself not to the aircraft so it will not void your aircraft warranty and allows you to plug in an unmodded smart battery for your standard flights.

You will have the option of sending one of your batteries to Tom Parker to mod like this, or he can provide a brand-new one modded like this for you along with the split battery pack and the landers to attach to your legs to fasten the batteries to. And again with this set up ,unlike others,you will be able to charge it all together using just your DJI charger

 

[dirtybum]

Keep in mind, Tom offered me to test this, and he sent it to me to keep at no charge to me. But he and his company is also NOT paying me anything to test, advertise, or review this product. I'm simply doing it in search of more flight time for myself as well as others on this forum that are interested in these type of products! And with that I will be posting about this product even if I find it has poor results so that everybody knows that this did not work out, at least for me,i'll be getting the results good or bad.

 

[sacooke]

Keep in mind, Tom offered me to test this, and he sent it to me to keep at no charge to me. But he and his company is also NOT paying me anything to test, advertise, or review this product. I'm simply doing it in search of more flight time for myself as well as others on this forum that are interested in these type of products! And with that I will be posting about this product even if I find it has poor results so that everybody knows that this did not work out, at least for me,i'll be getting the results good or bad.

Well that is exactly what I am after so I will wait for your test results. I could use the extra battery so he will have to supply one.

 

[hebs]

....... I have doubled my flight time on the first lipo I almost gave up on because I didn't realize I was dealing with this problem.....

Sorry for dragging up a slightly older post on this thread but, MVodhanel, did you find that the firmware version of the battery made any difference to the behaviour of the battery manager?

I am using two battery management circuit boards with the latest firmware on and I am having troubles getting them to even show any signs of life.

At first I thought that I had fried a board but I was extra careful with the second and it still doesn't respond to anything... Long press, using a battery with lower voltage, using the DJI lipo... Nothing

I've tried connecting the balance lead and XT60 in different orders as well.

Only thing left that I can think of is to try a board with older firmware on and see if that was the problem. I hope that DJI isn't trying to stop us modifying the battery in this way.

Any other ideas?


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[hebs]

Right....got it all working! I had fried one board and I persevered with the other. Battery firmware version is not an issue.

Thank you to the major contributors in this thread!

Now that I have converted my 2 batteries I will conduct some more hover tests with different sized non-DJI lipo's and report back.

For anyone else considering doing this mod, it is definitely achievable but in the process I think iv damaged one of the cells of the split DJI pack - it has been used and charged several times and seems ok, but I definitely stabbed it by mistake whilst stripping it down creating a spark. Fire safe bags are in constant use now just in case!

I also managed to fry one of the battery management boards by offering up a battery XT60 connecter the wrong way - you shouldn't be able to short them but you bloody well can!

If you are very confident with modifications and electronics then have a go but otherwise I suggest that you pay someone to knows what they are doing to do this mod for you. I can honestly say that I will not be stripping down another Lipo battery (and I'm an Army bomb disposal officer!). Both of my mistakes were due to me being distracted by the TV, so if you are doing this yourself then definitely switch the TV off

If you are in the UK then Will at horizon can sort you out. I'm pretty sure that he will also send you back the unused battery management board and plastic shell for a fee if you request it so that you can make the 'hollow' system as well. There are also others in this forum based in the US who can do this mod for you.


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[sacooke]

Keep in mind, Tom offered me to test this, and he sent it to me to keep at no charge to me. But he and his company is also NOT paying me anything to test, advertise, or review this product. I'm simply doing it in search of more flight time for myself as well as others on this forum that are interested in these type of products! And with that I will be posting about this product even if I find it has poor results so that everybody knows that this did not work out, at least for me,i'll be getting the results good or bad.

Dirtybum any news on this?

 

[dirtybum]

Dirtybum any news on this?

Still gonna run it a couple more times in calmer weather to give it a fair reveiw. Couple more days!

 

[nix240z]

bump

 

[dirtybum]

TEASER:
Not ready to give a full review yet, but early tests of the 5.2 split were dissapointing w/ the app starting the timer at 22-24 minutes and flight times ending around 23 average. But they was all done in 30-40degree F. Weather and its getting warmer and calmer this week so this mornings flight using p3S it was 50F. & I got a surprising and acceptable 34 mins to 5% !!
So more tests are needed as batteries get "broke in" and it hits 70F. This week.
2 days ago it was "NO"
Today its" MAYBE"

 

[hebs]

Am I doing something wrong?
I have tried many variations but I just can't increase my flight time - my standard battery always outperforms my mods. My hover times (100-15%) are below.

DJI battery with 2 x Hyperion 1800 - 13:19
2 x Hyperion 4400 - 12:10
2 x Hyperion 3650 - 13:55
2 x MultiStar 5200 - 12:10
2 x MultiStar 4000 - 13:26
DJI battery with split DJI battery - 13:01
DJI battery - 17:20

The non- DJI batteries are new and only have a couple of cycles on them. I really was expecting at least the duel 1800's to increase the flight time.

How on earth have you guys managed to get more than 20 minutes?


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[Silverwingflinx]

Am I doing something wrong?
I have tried many variations but I just can't increase my flight time - my standard battery always outperforms my mods. My hover times (100-15%) are below.

DJI battery with 2 x Hyperion 1800 - 13:19
2 x Hyperion 4400 - 12:10
2 x Hyperion 3650 - 13:55
2 x MultiStar 5200 - 12:10
2 x MultiStar 4000 - 13:26
DJI battery with split DJI battery - 13:01
DJI battery - 17:20

The non- DJI batteries are new and only have a couple of cycles on them. I really was expecting at least the duel 1800's to increase the flight time.

How on earth have you guys managed to get more than 20 minutes?


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did you do your own battery mod seems like its connected to the unswitched terminal of dji batt

 

[hebs]

Yes, I soldered to the unswitched side - would it really make any difference on the switched side? Are you saying that the battery manager is limiting the output of the battery to that of a stock battery if all of the juice is coming through the unswitched side?


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[dirtybum]

Yes, I soldered to the unswitched side - would it really make any difference on the switched side? Are you saying that the battery manager is limiting the output of the battery to that of a stock battery if all of the juice is coming through the unswitched side?


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I don't think it matters switched or inswitched, don't hold me to it but I think it's been done both ways

 

[maxwell smart]

I don't think it matters switched or inswitched, don't hold me to it but I think it's been done both ways

Well something is wrong.


How are you coming along Dirty ?? The new battery's, I mean. It seams to me that something is holding your bird back also. Just wandering.

 

[hebs]

did you do your own battery mod seems like its connected to the unswitched terminal of dji batt

Silverwingflinx, you were right!

DJI battery with 2 x Hyperion 1800 - now 24:12!


It does indeed appear that battery manager chokes the unswitched side.

I'm going to rebuild my battery-less 'battery manager' so that one battery connects to the switched side and the other battery to the unswitched (and balance cable).

I'm chuffed about this because I though that I had wasted my time and money!

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[dirtybum]

Well something is wrong.


How are you coming along Dirty ?? The new battery's, I mean. It seams to me that something is holding your bird back also. Just wandering.

What do you mean about holding my bird back?

Do you mean the MultiStar split 5.2's ? I've done two more test with them one with pro one with standard I believe it was 28:34 minutes for the pro
34:12 for the standard both down to 5% and both with 12mph winds
So it's getting better, I'll do a couple more ,contact Horizon, see if he still wants to put it out there to the general public. Right now on the PIII a/P it looks like you can expect 28 to 32 minutes possible. On the PIII S 30- 35 so are there bigger heavier battery combos you can put together, yes but for one that you can't even tell is strapped to your bird and you can charge with the DJI charger, complete plug-and-play, I think there'll definitely be a market for this for someone who just wants to strap on a battery every time they're feeling froggy but not have the bird committed to a long-distance machine

 

[shockwave199]

What do you mean about holding my bird back?

Do you mean the MultiStar split 5.2's ? I've done two more test with them one with pro one with standard I believe it was 28:34 minutes for the pro
34:12 for the standard both down to 5% and both with 12mph winds
So it's getting better, I'll do a couple more ,contact Horizon, see if he still wants to put it out there to the general public. Right now on the PIII a/P it looks like you can expect 28 to 32 minutes possible. On the PIII S 30- 35 so are there bigger heavier battery combos you can put together, yes but for one that you can't even tell is strapped to your bird and you can charge with the DJI charger, complete plug-and-play, I think there'll definitely be a market for this for someone who just wants to strap on a battery every time they're feeling froggy but not have the bird committed to a long-distance machine

Actually I'm looking for exactly that only I'm a close distance machine. I don't need the extra time for long range but rather, for extra long flight within 2k' tops doing slow orbits and hovers filming certain events. If I can expect 28 to 30 minutes reliably without nail biting at the end while trying to land before power runs out, that would be a huge win for me. I'm hoping to see more about this and hope horizon makes this available.

 

[nix240z]

I am new to the battery mods and have a few questions.
I use the fpvcustoms set up with nano-tech 1800 and happy with almost 30min time.
could anyone recommend any of the LiHV 15.2v packs?
and what would be the max mAh? I have seen up to 5200mAh and is there a point when there is just too much power vs weight?
thanks

 

[dirtybum]

There's definitely a point where there's just too much weight! Try to keep it under 500 extra grams

 

[nix240z]

There's definitely a point where there's just too much weight! Try to keep it under 500 extra grams

ok thnaks, I was was looking at
Venom Fly 25C 4S 2300mAh 15.2V LiHV LiPo Batteries
each 221.7 g